Comorbid Anxiety And Depression: Stress Biology And Brain Function

Comorbid anxiety and depression is common and many people do not benefit from the treatments that are available. We have found that the genetic contribution to comorbid anxiety and depression is stronger than the genetic contribution to either condition in isolation. In this research project, we want to find biological markers for the genetics behind comorbid anxiety and depression in data from the Swedish Twin Registry. The hope is to find clues to how treatment could be improved.

Stress can be a trigger for anxiety and depression. Therefore, we want to understand whether the stress response looks different in comorbid anxiety and depression. Here, we focus on how stress changes gene expression, proteins and metabolites in the blood. We want to get answers to whether people with comorbid anxiety and depression react differently to stress than others.

The brain mediates feelings of anxiety and depression. By studying brain function, we want to understand whether comorbid anxiety and depression is associated with changes in brain function.

We hope that by studying genetic factors, biological markers, stress biology and brain function within the same project, we can gain a new understanding of comorbid anxiety and depression.